She seems harmless enough...... She does look better in a sweater than Bobke.

And she's light years better than last year. Last year, she was really raw, but showed an almost overwhelming enthusiasm for the TdF that I didn't mind. Just think, she could be some bimbo who mispronounced every name in the peloton and didn't give a cr@p about the sport.

Call me a heartless yellow bastard but does anyone else watching the Tour want Kirsten Gum replaced like I do? I don't know if I can handle another 24 days of her useless banter. uhhhhh - z

I think she's there to stay...
Plus if you remember from last year, Phil couldn't keep his eyes off her and that's got to be worth something in her favor. The interaction with Phil and Paul was a never ending source of amusement and I'm sure that won't change.
For the record, she doesn't both me at all. I'm just glad I'm getting live coverage for the fourth year running.

After watching the hoopla on the vids that Nam provided, I'm going to have to go with Zeego on this. That woman is painful to listen to. Having said that, she's better than Bob who needs a solid punch in the face if you ask me. I'll take a boozed-up, crack-smoking Phil over all of them.

I like the fact that there is a woman behind the desk to balance it out but all I wanted was someone with a little bit more knowledge. Thankfully her enthusiasm is there, plus, she IS better to look at ;-)

C'mon, she is stupid!! OLN should take the sport seriously and put on credible announcers that can add to the coverage. Do you see someone as inept as her covering other sports like tennis? NO! You get credible, interesting commentators that add to the enjoyment of the sport without playing down to the lowest common denominator.
How can anyone take cycling seriously when they see that kind of commentator covering the sport? Why does OLN think the audience for cycling is THAT stupid?

C'mon, she is stupid!! OLN should take the sport seriously and put on credible announcers that can add to the coverage. Do you see someone as inept as her covering other sports like tennis? NO! You get credible, interesting commentators that add to the enjoyment of the sport without playing down to the lowest common denominator.
How can anyone take cycling seriously when they see that kind of commentator covering the sport? Why does OLN think the audience for cycling is THAT stupid?

I think she also needs to get the "tour de france" right, she always messes up the pronounciation.

She's a lot closer than Bobke's "Tour DAY France". His commentary is certainly amusing, but, PLEASE, Bob, let's get it right this year.

I must say that Gum does seem a little more polished this year. I don't mind her quite so much anymore. Last year, I found her to be really annoying. (It's just nice to have comprehensive TDF coverage at all.)

You don't need a crew of wall to wall experts. They already have experts, they need someone to ask the experts the questions.

Now, this Trautwig guy is going to get on my nerves, I can tell already.

__________________

If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. - Thomas De Quincey

Kirsten is better that last year, and I'm sure she has had some coaching from Phil and Paul. Her enthusiasm can be a little much, but she's "hangn' out at the tour" ...
I'd be enthusiastic too.

Bobbke's "tour day france" is working for him. His charector is supposed to be a bit on the edge, so it works for the network. He creates an "edge" to balence everyone else. They did tone him down a little from last year though

To be critical, I think we need to establish what her job is. She is not there to analyze the racing. That's why they have all of the others. They have added quite a few extra "field reporters" that are (ex) racers for analysis. Her job is to keep the show flowing and keep it within time constraints. Cycling analysis is very secondary to her main job. With that said, you could argue that she needs to leave all analysis to the "experts".

Personally, I like her this year. She is enthusiastic and she doesn't seem to be trying to comment on things she doesn't know much about. An ex-racer (female or male) could NOT do her job without a decent background in being a TV anchor, and that would be hard to find that combination.

Give me a break; she's the "talk show host" not the expert and her job is to keep the discussions on track and interesting. If you put a world-class female cyclist in her role it wouldn't work UNLESS that female cyclist also knew how to "host" a talk show. That she is easy on the eyes brings out some interesting character traits from Bobke, Paul & Phil that none of her male predessors could... thus, the pre-race shows are now far more entertaining than they were before.

Al is a tall utility announcer with an overly dramatic voice who knows nada about cycling and reads prepared scripts -- a character ripe for Scott Adams treatment in a Dilbert-like cartoon about OLN. His last gig broadcasting for cycling events was at the Olympics in Sydney and Atlanta and it was painful to listen to, not unlike the over-the-top crap narrated by Trautwig on OLN about Lance's past five TdF wins.

And, while I'm ranting here, what friggin' committee approved the also over-the-top "Cyclism" marketing package that OLN is airing? Is this what they think will attract the outdoor hunting and fishing and Pro-Bull Rider segment to cycling? Give me a break.

Thank goodness I'll be able to "read" the tour on the Internet live and then fast-forward through all of the OLN & Lance, Subaru & Lance, Nike & Lance, Trek & Lance, and Lincoln ads, Al Trautwig's over-the-top narrations, and what I'm sure will be more of that ranting idiot with the Cyclism crap that will have more air time than the actual racing. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Lance, but the TdF somehow was interesting sport for the 95 years that preceeded Lance's domination of the event (any remember a guy named Greg Lemond?, Big Mig?) and not even Al Trautwig saying so can make Lance is the greatest cyclist of all time; that spot is unquestioningly held by Eddy Merckx.

Bottom Line: There are too many other things at OLN and now Discovery Channel with regard to cycling that need to be fixed that are a lot worse than Kirtsen Gum.

So, why is she really there? T&A value only? She's not needed. Paul, Phil and Bob did a fine job at the Giro. They kept things moving, asked each other questions and managed to make even boring stages fun. Throw in a couple good field reporters and you're set.

The Giro didn't air in Prime Time; different audience in the minds of the OLN programming and producer brain trust.

You, me and many other cycling afficianados could probably listen to Bobke, Phil & Paul all day every day and not grow weary or lose interest -- even those who are polarized to like either Bob or Phil, but not both. OLN apparently thinks new viewers who are not necessarily cycling zealots need more programming and packaging, hence the Tour de France circus act with it's three rings -- the talk show -- the race call -- and the special packages.

The Giro didn't air in Prime Time; different audience in the minds of the OLN programming and producer brain trust.

You, me and many other cycling afficianados could probably listen to Bobke, Phil & Paul all day every day and not grow weary or lose interest -- even those who are polarized to like either Bob or Phil, but not both. OLN apparently thinks new viewers who are not necessarily cycling zealots need more programming and packaging, hence the Tour de France circus act with it's three rings -- the talk show -- the race call -- and the special packages.